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Why do people keep pushing blockchain tech as store as value? As far as ETH is concerned I see it more like the web, dns, IPFS. It's infrastructure software. It

Why do people keep pushing blockchain tech as store as value? As far as ETH is concerned I see it more like the web, dns, IPFS. It's infrastructure software. It's not meant to be store of value. This frenzy looks more like the dot com bubble when everyone was thinking domain names will become the store of value of the future(i.e pets.com). I can see value in ICOs just like there is value in penny stocks or other secondary markets but that depends by the company that offers the shares/tokens. Of course if you know that someone will pump it and keep it up(i.e like banks do on IPOs) then there is speculative value as well but that's a different story. This being said I'm hopeful that some good tech will stick around just like the web tech did.

fastball 5y ago
I agree, which is why I stopped speculating on cryptos last year. That's not to say I don't think you can speculate and make money, because clearly you can. But the movements do not seem to behave very rationally, even by finance industry standards, which is saying something. That being said, I think the one difference is that ETH actually does have some intrinsic value assuming the Ethereum network is actually used to build useful things, which so far it seems like it is. As long as that is true, people will need ETH in order to pay gas fees. And if you need ETH to pay gas fees, presumably its value will scale somewhat proportionally to the real-world usefulness of the network.
wmf 5y ago
Bitcoin doesn't have (useful) smart contracts and it's clearly not a currency so it's either a "store of value" or straight gambling. Ethereum has more leeway to define its identity.
aeternum 5y ago
Can blockchain exist without store of value? Put another way: Has any project proven that there is sufficient incentive for miners or stakers to secure a blockchain without significant value stored?

fastball 5y ago

I agree, which is why I stopped speculating on cryptos last year. That's not to say I don't think you can speculate and make money, because clearly you can. But the movements do not seem to behave very rationally, even by finance industry standards, which is saying something. That being said, I think the one difference is that ETH actually does have some intrinsic value assuming the Ethereum network is actually used to build useful things, which so far it seems like it is. As long as that is true, people will need ETH in order to pay gas fees. And if you need ETH to pay gas fees, presumably its value will scale somewhat proportionally to the real-world usefulness of the network.

wmf 5y ago

Bitcoin doesn't have (useful) smart contracts and it's clearly not a currency so it's either a "store of value" or straight gambling. Ethereum has more leeway to define its identity.

aeternum 5y ago

Can blockchain exist without store of value? Put another way: Has any project proven that there is sufficient incentive for miners or stakers to secure a blockchain without significant value stored?